22 Dec 2006

kabul express

saw kabul express yesterdayto all you south dilli walahswho are not able to catch it because some PVR Yashraj spattry and see it on the big screen its worth it

these are the film that big production houses should make once in a while in between their weepy flicks

i cannot for the life of me understand all the bad reviewsKabul Ex gotthe film has faults but thenthis is the first film that has placed indian charactersin a foreign country dealing with contemporary issues issues important to people in the subcontinentnone of the old fogies (or young ones for that matter)have been able to move beyond essays they call filmsthe only exceptions have been Hazaaron Kwahishein (saw limited release in Delhi)and Paanch (which did not get a release)

Kabul Ex is shortall of 120 minsmaybe the director had a lot of time before the release to go over his cut(the film had been completed many months ago)the visuals are stunning (although i felt that some locations were repeated in other sequences)the story is crisp and the characters believablethe background score is minimal and powerful

arshad warsi is good but he is getting into the habitof playing the funny guythe shashi kapoor of contemporary filmsjohn abraham is cast wellbut he does not get much to do

what was interesting was how the five characters are thrown in together and the conversations they have(who is responsible for aghanistan's fucked up state, the best all rounder in cricket kapil or imran, hindi film songs)

the best scenes i liked was when cans of pepsi fall on the pakistaniwhile arshad and john are arguing what drink it isanother one was the tribute to the Dev Anand songand the donkey on the road

however some of the lines were too predictableand stilted (conversations between the american and john, john's comment on cricket)i think the director should have gone over them with a finer comb

the only real failing if i call that is thatin the end the characters get off too easily

the indians - they are not responsible for this situation buy they empathise since they belong to as third world country

the pakistani - because he was doing his duty and does not belive in most things the Taliban does

the aghanistan - because his country has been ravaged by outsiders (how green was my valley etc.)

the american - because she has a concience and she knows that as a journalist she knows how much ever we do it will never be enough

also the film being short is not able to deal with the complexities of the problembut the film does leave you with many questionsimportant questions, searching questions that don't leave you